Theaters and Performances
Sun City Palm Desert residents are showered with live performance opportunities thanks to the numerous theaters and event centers here in the greater Palm Desert area and the renowned entertainers they host. Sun City itself hosts many live entertainment activities at our several venues, including live theater, shows and performances by singers, comedians and more.
The three nearby major casinos each have large event centers / concert theaters that offer first class entertainment by name singers, comedians and illusionists.
The area is lucky to have the fantastic world class 1,127-seat McCallum Theater in Palm Desert as well as several other top notch live theater venues that host accomplished performers.

McCallum Theatre
The McCallum in Palm Desert is a jewel of a theatre and the valley’s premier performing arts venue with a reputation for bringing the finest international talent to the Coachella Valley. Consistently ranked among California’s most popular venues, in 2018 the McCallum was rated by Pollstar magazine as the 3rd top ticket-selling venue in California. The McCallum has been able to attract some of the world’s best artists, ranging from rock and pop icons and dance legends to classical soloists and orchestras, as well as many of the most cherished stars of stage, screen, television, and song, thanks to its massive, 1,127-seat theater with advanced sound and lighting that still manages to coddle guests in an atmosphere of intimacy.
The range of shows is diverse, delivering perennial favorites Mamma Mia, Annie or Sound of Music to solo performances by crooners such as Olivia Newton John or stand up comedians like Jay Leno.

Indian Wells Theatre
The Indian Wells Theatre located right on the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus is a wonderful modern theatrical venue. Its aesthetically-pleasing exterior is matched by the beautiful interior of a 300-seat, professional performing arts theater that offers comfortable, stadium seating with excellent acoustics and sightlines. The shows tend to fall in the nostalgic, kitschy and heartwarming varieties and may include a good tribute shows or entertaining celebrity impersonators.
 
Coyote Stageworks at The Annenberg Theater
Coyote StageWorks, the Coachella Valley-based award-winning Actors' Equity professional theater company has been voted “Best in Live Theater” for the Coachella Valley. They have been presenting their plays at the Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs Art Museum, most recently the award winners “Art” and “Agnes of God” and "The Understudy" by Theresa Rebeck, who created the hit television series "SMASH."
The Annenberg Theater is an intimate state-of-the-art 433-seat theater housed on the lower level of the Palm Springs Art Museum. Their nearly perfect acoustics are applauded by the artists who grace their stage and their audiences enthusiastically return year after year to experience the entertainment only provided by live professional theater. Each season the Annenberg presents internationally known performers and concert artists in music, dance, and theater including the much lauded series “Broadway’s Best in the West” featuring well-known performers from the Great White Way. Guests can combine their visit to the Palm Springs Art Museum ending their night with some seriously Tony-worthy productions. Comedy, jazz, classical, dance – it’s all here at the Annenberg Theater in downtown Palm Springs. A little bit of traditional and a little bit of the avant-garde, with something for everyone.

Palm Canyon Theatre
Celebrating 22 years in 2019, the Palm Canyon Theater in Palm Springs is the closest thing to “Broadway” in the desert. They put on iconic shows like “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Evita” and in 2019 will do “Grand Hotel”, “The Diary of Anne Frank”, “Big River” and more. The Palm Canyon Theatre produces about 13 Broadway musicals and classic plays each year during the regular main stage season which runs from September to May, with a summer performance usually in July.

Coachella Valley Repertory Theater
The Coachella Valley Repertory Theater or the CVRep is a not-for-profit professional theater company, which presents thought provoking and innovative plays. Past seasons have offered plays on the themes of love, marriage and life-changing events such as “Baby, The Musical” and Pulitzer Prize-winning “Disgraced.” The 2019 season will include “Chess” and “Good People”. The theater’s popular Luminary Luncheons or Dinners give the “audience” the opportunity to meet performance legends up close.

Desert TheatreWorks
Over the past 6 seasons, they have produced more than 50 plays and musicals, 8 children’s musicals and more than 20 special events, making Desert TheatreWorks one of Coachella Valley’s leading producers of theatre and educational programming for the performing arts. They provide the greater Palm Desert community with education, entertainment and exposure to cultural experiences.  Desert TheatreWorks strives to present imaginative, innovative, and entertaining plays and musicals for the entire community including some works that are rarely produced.         

Plaza Theater
Originally built in 1936, a Class 1 Historic Site, the structure was used for film premieres and screenings and was the venue for nationally broadcast radio theatre programs and other performances by Bing Crosby, Amos ‘n’ Andy, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Frank Sinatra, among many others. In its later years, the theater was home to the critically acclaimed and revered “The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies.” The Architectural Resources Group, Inc. has been selected to complete the design and oversee the renovation of the Plaza Theatre.  Current plans are to start the renovation in early to mid 2023.  

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